Trionfi

Locations
andLibraries

Italian cities in 15th century were bigger than cities elsewhere in Europe - for instance in Germany. Cologne was biggest in Geremany and had 35000 inhabitants, with that it had about the size of Ferrara, which was one of the smaller of the Italian cities.

Italy had the biggest towns in Europe

Occasionally it's of some importance to know the locations, where the development took place. So you find here maps and some other basic informations to cities and courts. Of special interests are the libraries of related persons.

Milan was rich and should have been under the greatest cities of Europe, although estimations about the size of population differ. The Italian competitor was Naples, by some called "largest city of the world". Venetia was a little smaller, but not much

Italy - the Heart of Europe

City development and manuscript gathering are main themes of the upcoming renaissance. The development of Trionfi in both versions, as festivity and as card play, accompanied the process. The energies were blocked by the wars between Milan, Venetia and Florence in the time from 1425 - 1454, but the creativity exploded with the peace of Lodi. Book collection had already a first climax with Pope Nikolaus (1447 - 1455), who was already active in this direction as cardinal. Major importance had the council of Ferrara and Florence 1438 and 1439, from which both cities got deciding impulses. It started in the Dome of Ferrara (see above). The first publical library, San Marco in Florence, was founded 1444 by Cosimo Medici. The raising interests in books caused the book printing and that caused a revolution in the perception about the world.

Charles V the wise of France collected the greatest library of his time, second to this was the Visconti Library in Pavia, where Filippo Visconti spend his youth. Filippo's intellectual possibilities shoud have surpassed that of his contemporaries by far.

Small, but fine. Ferrara developed to a splendid intellectual center of 15th century. The recept: They didn't indulge too much in war. And they had a young ruler, interested in the humanistic ideals of the time: Leonello

Much smaller, but growing was the d'Este library. Leonello lived in the heart of
the growing book interest of his time. The council of 1438 was mainly of interest, cause various copies of rare
manuscripts were done in the background. Borsos bible, produced with lots of bookpaintings from 1455 - 1460, is probably the most expensive book ever.

Occasionally it's of some importance to know the locations, where the development took place. So you find here maps and some other basic informations to cities and courts. Of special interests are the libraries of related persons.